Strap material is often used to secure loads. For example, in the packaging and shipping of loads of lumber, bricks and the like, steel strap material is used to contain the load in a bundle so that the load can be handled, moved or stored in quantity as a single unit. When a load needs to be broken down into individual units, the strap must be cut or severed to provide access to individual items in the load.
Strap material can, of course, be cut with a conventional manual shear. However, repeated use, especially when the orientation of the load or strap is awkward, can be time consuming and fatiguing. Nevertheless, manual shears are the accepted norm for strap cutting.
Moreover, known shears include only a blade to cut the strap. There are no known shears that contain one or both of the ends of the strap after the cut has been made.
Accordingly, there is a need for a powered strap cutter. Desirably, such a cutter is locally powered. More desirably, such a cutter is configured to hold down one or both of the strap ends as the strap is being cut.